Girls soccer: Shorecrest 2, Indian Rocks Christian 1 + PHOTOS
Source/Author: Bob Putnam, Tampa Bay Times
January 29, 2016
Shorecrest won its two previous meetings with Indian Rocks Christian this season, but the last one in the district final was not decided until penalty kicks.
As expected, the Golden Eagles countered with a second-half goal. It was not until the 18:36 mark that Shorecrest went ahead again on a goal by Kendall P. This time, the lead stood as Shorecrest bore down on defense to win 2-1. It was sweet redemption for the Chargers (14-3-1), who lost 1-0 to the Golden Eagles in last year's region semifinals.
The Chargers are a young team with five eighth graders in the starting lineup. But they grew up in the regular season and are in the region final for the first time since 2014.
So when the Chargers' Sophie W scored in the first 28 seconds of Tuesday's rematch in the Class A region semifinals, coach Neal Wolfrath was confident his team would need more than that.
"I was pretty sure that wouldn't hold up," Wolfrath said.
As expected, the Golden Eagles countered with a second-half goal. It was not until the 18:36 mark that Shorecrest went ahead again on a goal by Kendall P. This time, the lead stood as Shorecrest bore down on defense to win 2-1. It was sweet redemption for the Chargers (14-3-1), who lost 1-0 to the Golden Eagles in last year's region semifinals.
"We all figured it would be close and come down to the end," Wolfrath said. "Indian Rocks Christian has a lot of firepower to get back in it. But we were creating a lot of chances, so I was confident that we could pull it out before going into overtime."
IRC's Delight Williams scored from about 15 yards out midway through the second half to tie the score. That set up Pope's winner. It was just the second goal of the season for the junior.
"This is definitely the most memorable goal," Kendall P said. "Coach said to take shots in the box and that's what I did."
The Chargers are a young team with five eighth graders in the starting lineup. But they grew up in the regular season and are in the region final for the first time since 2014.
"I still had high expectations for this team, but they were tempered," Wolfrath said. "I'm just glad we're able to get back to the region final."
Varsity Girls Soccer Regional Semi Final Photos here thanks to Charger Mom Leslie Mathews.
Varsity Girls Soccer Regional Semi Final Photos here thanks to Charger Mom Leslie Mathews.
